
PUBLISHED BY 

gradleY, Fertiliser Co., 
boston. 



Bradley's Standard Fertilizers 



FOR ALL CROPS. 



Bradley's Superphosphate. Bradley's Complete Manure for Vegetables. 

Bradley's Potato Manure. Bradley's Complete Manure for Grain. 

BD Sea-Fowl Guano. Bradley's Complete Manure for Grass. 

Farmer's New Method Fertilizer. Bradley's High Grade Tobacco Manure. 

Bradley's Ground Bone and Potash. 

Bradley's Fruit and Vine Fertilizer. 

English Lawn Fertilizer. 

Pure Fine Ground Bone and Bone Meal, Etc. 





BRADLEr FERTILIZER COMPANY'S PUHEICATIONS. 

BRADLEY'S AMERICAN FARMER, Illustrated. A concise treatise on growing all 
farm crops. 

TOBACCO, Illustrated. How to grow, cure and market cigar wrapper tobacco. 

BRADLEY'S FLORIDA BOOK, Illustrated. A treatise on growing Florida crops, and a 
description of our fertilizers prepared especially for that trade. 

THE LAWN AND GARDEN. Hints on how to secure and keep a beautiful lawn and 
a flourishing garden. 

THE CRANBERRY, Illustrated. Suggestions as to the preparation of bogs and selection 
of berries, modes of cultivation, picking, shipping, &c. 

Any of the above publications sent free upon request to 

Bradley Fertilizer Company, Boston, Mass. 

Branch Offices: Rochester, N. Y. Augusta, Ga. 



Tl)e Cranberry 



PUBLISHED BY 

Bradley Fertilizer Co. 

BO$TOjy 




PICKING CRANBERRIES ON THE OLD COLONY CO.'S CRANBERRY BOG AT 

SOUTH YARMOUTH, MASS. 



West Dennis, Mass., Oct. 19, 1891. 

Having had the superintendency of preparing and set- 
ting to vines what is called the " Old Colony cranberry 
bog," which contains about 25 acres, I have had occasion 
to use the different kinds of commercial fertilizers sold on 
the market, and of them all I now use the Bradley. 

It has proved a great help in starting our new vines, 
giving them a vigorous growth and bringing the bog into 



bearing much earlier than would have been the case had 
Bradley's fertilizer not been applied. 

We think very highly of your fertilizer, and recommend 
its use by cranberry-growers generally. The photograph 
you have of our cranberry bog will give some idea of what 
we are doing. 

REUBEN BAKER, Sufi. 

R. A. BAKER, Treas 



Copyrighted by 'Uradley Fertiliser Co., 1892. 



> 



Tfye Cranberry 



THIS book is not intended to be a scientific or elaborate treatise upon the 
Cranberry, but rather a book of practical suggestions, and a summary 
of helpful hints that may prove of benefit to those who undertake to 

grow this fruit. 

The methods of growing Cranberries vary with localities and growers, and 
are undoubtedly in an experimental state at the present time. The original 
Cranberry grower was the owner of some wild and uncultivated patch where, 
in a natural condition, the berries (receiving no attention until picking time) 
were gathered "at halves," meeting little or no market beyond the limits of 
the locality in which they grew. 

The modern grower has found the application of improved methods of 
cultivation and fertilization to pay liberally with the Cranberry, as with every 
other crop, and it should be his endeavor, through all available methods, to re- 
duce the cost of growing and increase the yield of berries per acre, giving 
special attention to such culture as may the better secure the keeping quality 
of the fruit. 

In order to do this, the grower may have to lay aside his preconceived 
notions as to the best methods of growing and fertilization, and possibly even 

( 3) 



discard some which have in years past been approved by leading growers. 
By a careful selection of varieties best adapted to each particular locality, or 
frequently by a larger increase in the depth of sand upon the bog, and 
then by the greatest care in all that pertains to the picking and packing 
of the fruit, he will be enabled to maintain for the Cape berries a foremost 
reputation as "keepers" among those who handle this valuable crop. Too 
little attention has heretofore been paid to this essential feature, and quantity 
rather than quality has been sought. When secured, the berries, as a general 
thing, are hurriedly packed at the bog, usually warm from the vines, and so, 
oft-times, they are almost ruined before reaching a market. This practice is 
largely responsible for the prejudice of some dealers against Cape berries. 

Again, improved methods of cultivation by which an increased production, 
with improved quality, may be secured, are certainly desirable to every individual 
grower ; though the present enormous crop would hardly seem to warrant a 
larger acreage, yet, at the same time, it behooves every grower to make as 
productive as possible (in view of the great expenditure) each acre already 
under cultivation. 

The matter here presented is the result of thorough investigation into the 
methods of cultivation as practised by the most successful growers, and we 
believe it presents facts to the grower which will prove well worthy of his 
careful attention. 

BRADLEY FERTILIZER CO. 

(4) 



THE BOG. 



IT is popularly supposed that the Cranberry flourishes upon Cape Cod be- 
cause of the salt sea sand of which the Cape is so largely composed. 
This theory, however, is erroneous, as it has been proved that even on 
Cape Cod the Cranberry will not flourish except under certain other favorable 
conditions. 

The first inquiry, then, is, What kind of land is preferable for a bog? 
The best growers select a laurel, maple, or cedar swamp, so situated that it 
can be easily flowed with water at any time when this may seem necessary. 
They select a swamp in preference to a meadow, because it is found in 
practice that a meadow always produces considerable coarse grass detrimental 
to the crop, which does not grow in the swamps. 

Again, it is proved that a swamp on which wood has grown has a better 
bottom than the average meadow, as it is largely composed of decayed foliage, 
which has for many years dropped from the trees, and has gradually become 
a rich, friable soil, usually free from either weeds or grass. 

Some growers believe that it is not essential to have the bog so situated 
that it can be covered by water; but, while there are some very fine dry 
Cranberry bogs of this description, if an early frost or the fire-worm strikes the 
crop at a vital time, it causes an entire failure, which could have been pre- 
vented had there been a chance of promptly flowing the bog. 

( 5) 



HOW TO PREPARE A BOG. 

THE Cranberry bog is usually prepared in late fall, winter, or early 
spring, when the ground is partially frozen, as it is more easily 
cleared at this time, and cheaper labor is obtainable. 

The first step in preparing the bog is to mow off, with a bush scythe, all 
the small brush and undergrowth. We are then ready to get rid of the trees. 
Experience has proved that the cheaper way is to cut the roots of the large 
trees, and then by means of tackle, in case they do not fall by their own 
weight, pull them over to the ground. This saves many days' labor, which would 
be necessary if the trees were cut down above the ground and the stumps then 
dug out. 

The refuse materials should be gathered into heaps, and, when dried, burned 
upon the bog ; but great care is necessary in burning not to allow the moss and 
turf, of which the bog is composed, to get on fire ; for when once fairly started, 
it is nearly impossible, except by flowing the bog, to extinguish the flames. 

These first steps in clearing the bog must be done in the best possible 
manner, preferably by day labor, under the direct care of a watchful foreman, 
as the ultimate success of the Cranberry bog depends very largely upon the 
thoroughness with which all of the tree and bush roots are removed. 

After the surface of the bog has been thoroughly cleaned off, it is cut into 

(6) 



squares, about eighteen inches across, by means of a turf-axe, which is a thin, 
hatchet-shaped bladed implement, with a stout, hickory handle, about thirty 
inches long. This axe is utilized for cutting the tough, undergrowing roots, sure 
to be found just below the surface of the soil. 

The usual method is to cut across the bog in parallel lines eighteen inches 
apart, and again at right angles in parallel lines in the same manner, thus 
leaving the turf in square blocks about eighteen inches square. Two men 
with long-handled, four-pronged bog-hooks follow the cutters, pulling over the 
turf, which, after the ditching is finished, should be chopped up, and so ren- 
dered suitable for making the surface as smooth as possible, when the work 
of final grading is completed. 

We are now ready for ditching ; the manner and methods necessary to 
secure the best possible drainage being subject, of course, to such varied 
conditions as to render it difficult to describe. But if there were but three 
essential features of special importance, two of them would be drainage. 

All of the ditches should be dug with flaring banks, so as to prevent caving 
in of the sides of the ditch, and thus making constant trouble. A ditch, in any 
case, around the entire bog is an essential feature in drainage, and to carry- 
off the cold surface water, as well as a preventive of much difficulty in cultiva- 
tion, etc. 

If the ditches are thoroughly well made they will need but little repairing 
or cleaning, and here as elsewhere in preparing the bog the most careful atten- 
tion on the part of the superintendent will prove the cheapest in the end. 

( 7) 



After the ditches are completed, the bog must be graded until it is as 
smooth and level as a lawn. In grading the bog the levels must be run in 
such a manner that it can be easily flooded with water, since sometimes it may 
be desirable to do this as expeditiously as possible, and the necessary arrange- 
ments to do this should be provided at this time. 



North Harwich, Mass., Oct. 19, 1891. 

I have been in the habit of using Bradley's Fertilizer on my cranberry bogs for a number of 
years, and consider it very beneficial. It pushes the new vines along to a bearing condition much 
earlier than would be the case if left to depend on the natural strength of the soil, and by 
covering the ground quicker with vines the grass and brush are not so likely to get a start. 

It also does well on old vines, increasing the crop, and the size and quality of the berry. 
Last spring, to my sorrow, I neglected to applv this phosphate to my old bog, and on gather- 
ing my crop this fall I found I had made a great mistake. Shall use it another year, without 
fail. 

BENJ. F. HALL. 



harwichport, Mass., Oct. 19, 1891. 

I have used Bradley's Fertilizer for growing cranberries, and find it very beneficial. New vines 
Lome to bearing one year earlier by its use, and grass and weeds are crowded out, and do not 
get the foothold they are apt to where vines grow slowly, and are a long while covering the 
ground. 

Cranberrv growers in this section are finding it greatly to their interest to use Bradley's Fertil- 
izer on their bogs, both new and old. 

About the ist of June, 1891, I put on 100 pounds of Bradley's Fertilizer on about 60 rods of 
late vines, set out 20 years ago. On the other side of the ditch were 60 rods of vines, the same 
age, both done by the same man ; in other words, the same conditions exactly, except the Fer- 
tilizer. This year I gathered both pieces. The piece to which I applied 100 pounds of Fertilizer 
yielded 8 barrels of cranberries, the other, barely 1 barrel. 

E. B. ALLEN. 

(8) 



THE DAM. 

ADAM must be built at the lower end of the bog, in such a manner 
as seems necessary from the location and force of the water run- 
ning through the main ditch. If the main ditch is a brook which 
carries a large amount of surplus water, the dam must be very strongly and 
thoroughly built; but if, on the other hand, it is simply a ditch filled by springs 
or small brooks found in the bog, a simple dam can be thrown up at slight 
cost ; although care must be taken to make it strong enough, so that the high 
water in winter or spring will not carry it away and leave the vines unprotected 
from the frost. If the bog is of large size, and a large amount of water is 
needed, of course a larger and more substantial dam must be built. The accom- 
panying illustration gives a section of a turf dam, preferably about fifteen feet 
wide at the bottom by ten feet at the top, constructed of turf, and sand or clay, 
in such a manner as to be absolutely safe. 

It will be seen that the walls slope from the foundation to the top, and are 
composed outside of layers of turf, so laid one upon the other that the joints 
are broken and a solid wall is made, between which is filled in a mass of stone, 
clay, and sand, thoroughly tamped down so as to make a firm structure in the 
centre of the dam. At the end of the main ditch should be constructed a water- 
course or flume, preferably of two-inch plank, with a waste-gate that can be 
raised or lowered as the supply of water may be needed or allowed to run to 

(9) 



waste. This is simply made of plank, with an oak joist for a lever, which, used 
as a pry, easily opens the gate. 



THE SANDING. 

THE sand used on a Cranberry bog should be absolutely free from 
either clay or loam, for if it contain either it will, in the one case, 
under the action of sun and water, form a hard surface in which 
the vines will not thrive, or in the other, if there is much loam intermixed, 
it. will contain weed seeds, which will prove a detriment to the bog. Sand 
can generally be found in the immediate vicinity of the bog, and should 
preferably be coarse rather than fine in quality. 

To spread the sand over the bog, lay down a course of plank, over 
which the sand can be wheeled in barrows and so dumped, from this 
plank-walk, as to make the level spreading thereof a matter of little labor ; 
shift the plank about four feet from that portion already covered, and dump 
to right and left as before ; enough should be brought on to give an even 
coating of from four to five inches, and it may be smoothed by a lawn rake, 
or a leveller made of one-inch board, about a foot and a half long, by three 
or four inches wide, with a rake handle fastened in the centre of the 
board. 

When the sand has been evenly spread over the bog, it is ready to be 

( io) 



marked off. This is generally done by using an improvised rake or 
"marker," made of a piece of 2 by 4 inch joist, seven to ten feet long, 
with white-oak teeth eight inches long, set eighteen inches apart, the whole 
finished with a handle for easy working. This rake is usually run parallel 
with some straight ditch, or along one side of a bog in a straight line, so 
that when set in vines it may present a uniform appearance. But as, in the 
case of corn, "more grows in crooked rows than straight ones," this may be left 
to taste and convenience ; again cross-marking at right angles, and you are ready 
for setting the vines. 



NEWPORT, R.I., Oct. 26, 1891. 

I have used Bradley's Fertilizer on my cranberry bog twice, and find a great improvement in 
checking the growth of moss, also in starting the vines. In fact, I think it made the vines 
grow too fast, or. I may have put on too much. I can recommend it as a first-class Fertilizer. 



H. B. RYDER, 

17 Harvard Ave. 



NORTH HARWICH, MASS., Oct. 19, 1891. 

I have used Bradley's Fertilizer on my cranberry bogs, both old and new, the past three or 
four years, with highly satisfactory results. It adds to the growth of new vines, so that they 
cover the ground quicker, and come into bearing one or two years earlier than thev would were 
there no fertilizer applied. 

On my old vines the effect of this Fertilizer has been to kill out the moss (burn it up, to 
appearance), and to so renew the vines as to give them the look of a young bog. 

JOHN E. RYDER. 

( II ) 




View of Cranberry bog owned by Capt. e. k. Crowell, dennisport. 

DENNISPORT, Mar. 2, 1892. 
I have used Bradley's Fertilizers for a number of years on cranberry vines, both old and new, with good and satisfactory 
results. The fruit will generally be larger and fairer where it is used, and used on young vines will cause them to spread and 
shade the ground, thus preventing as large a growth of weeds. I cheerfully recommend it to all cranberry growers. 

The foreground shows vines set in the spring of 1890; the background on the right new bearing bog, and on 
the left, a small showing of vines set in spring of 1891. 

E. K. CROWELL. 

( 12) 



THE BEST BERRY. 

THERE is a wide division of opinion in regard to what is the best 
berry to grow ; the shrewdest growers find that a selection of 
berries, running from the very early to the very late berry, gives the 
best returns when a series of years is taken into account. 

By common consent the purple-black berry, called " Early Black," has 
been the favorite with both growers and consumers, as its handsome, rich 
coloring made it a good seller, while it is also a very prolific berry. It is 
a medium-hard berry, and for bogs which are liable to be infested with the fire, 
fruit, or span worm it seems preferable, as the bog can be kept under water 
until as late as the first or middle of June, and these berries will then, in an 
average season, ripen before frost. It is, however, pretty well conceded by 
many growers that this berry has been of great injury to the business as 
a whole, since it is one of the poorest of keepers, and, while affording profit 
for the time to the grower, has been of such loss to the "middleman," as 
to render him unduly cautious of Cape Cod berries. This reputation which 
has attached itself to the Cape crop is wholly unwarranted by a careful and 
intelligent investigation of the many and various conditions which govern this, 
the most important feature of the whole business. 

The "A. D. Makepeace" berry is the outcome of a berry found by its 
namesake, the largest grower in this country, and gradually cultivated until 

( 13) 



it is conceded to be the largest early berry in the market, and as such 
commands a high price. It is of cherry shape, and rose-tinged purple in 
coloring. Illustration No. i is a fair example of the shape of this berry. 

The " James Anthony " is a very good variety of the second early berries, and 
by some considered among the best keepers of the medium-early berries. 

The " Bachelor " is a larger berry, and, like the " J. P. Howes," proves to be 
a fair keeper and a salable berry, although the Howes is more even and reg- 
ular in size. 

The "McFarland " is a dark-red, handsome berry, of large size, and a favorite 
with a few large growers. 

The " Bugle" or " Chipman " is an older berry, and one of the best keepers, 
but not as productive as some others. 

The six varieties mentioned are the most popular grown. Some others 
may have a local reputation, which time and attention will bring into favorable 
notice. Local conditions have much to do, however, with qualities in all cases. 



HARWICHPORT, MASS., Oct. 20, 1891. 

I have used Bradley's Fertilizer for a number of years on cranberries, both on newly set vines 
and old vines. 1 apply it broadcast, and I find it pays well. 1 can recommend it to be a good 
investment, causing more and larger fruit. 

WATSON B. KELLEY. 

( 14 ) 



THE PLANTING. 

THE Cranberry is propagated, through the means of vines which are 
procured from old bogs ; they are cut or mowed off, preferably from 
vines not more than three or four years old. In sorting these cut- 
tings, care should be taken to remove all the dead wood, and only the bright, 
clean cuttings used for planting. Most growers estimate five barrels of cuttings 
to the acre of bog, as they use from four to six cuttings in each setting. 
Some growers prefer taking runners twenty to thirty inches in length, and 
doubling them over at time of planting; but the former seems to be the 
generally adopted method. 

The usual method of planting is by using a "dibble," or setting-blade, 
made from hard wood, although one of the shrewdest growers has recently 
adopted an implement consisting of an iron blade, with a cross-piece handle of 
wood. He claims that this is far preferable to any wooden instrument, and 
always readily presses through the sand, although it is not sharp enough to 
cut the vines. 

In planting, a bunch of four or six runners is placed upon the sand at 
every intersecting corner. This bunch is held in the left hand of the planter, 
while with his right hand he presses them into the sand by means of the 
"dibble," so that they will reach through to the soil beneath, and when 
planted will not come above the surface more than two inches. The ac- 
companying sketch shows the method of planting. 

( 15 ) 



A 



D D A 



















t- \0 >l> >i- \b s!' -(- 


















E, 


5- > 


f N 


^ > 


> ^ >^ 


















> 


J- > 


^ > 


u ^ 


/ V N!^ 


















> 


c> s 


* ^ 


l» ^ 


' ^ V- ■ 












C 












C 






B 






p 






























L 










c 














_ 

















































































































































D 


D 




c c 

A A is the main ditch encircling the bog. 

B B is the central ditch. 

C C are the cross-ditches draining into main and central ditches. 

D D are the lines made by the marker. 

E E show points at which plants are set. 



A 



About two weeks after the cuttings are set, a small handful of Bradley's 
Superphosphate should be scattered around each bunch of cuttings, as this will 
cause them to grow with great vigor, and so stimulate their growth that few if 
any of the cuttings will die ; sometimes not one in a hundred will fail to make a 
flourishing set. It is a little more work, but advisable, to put the fertilizer in 
the hill, just under the sand. 

Some growers prefer, after the bog is planted, to keep the ground wet by 
damming back the water to within six or eight inches of the surface of the 
bog, and keeping it here until the vines give signs of having made some growth. 
The water is then let out of the ditches, and the vines take care of themselves 
through the ensuing season, unless it happens to be a particularly dry summer. 
If so, once or twice, through the dryest of the season, the water should be 
dammed back for a few days, and the vines receive the benefit of the irriga- 
tion. They will not need any further care during the first season, unless there 
is a growth of weeds, which should be effectually destroyed. 

A cleanly, well-kept bog is not only a beautiful sight, but is the foundation 
for large returns in the future ; it requires no little care, during the first year 
or two, on the best of bogs to secure the proper money return, in order that 
the unavoidable outlay heretofore outlined may be rendered remunerative. Four 
hundred dollars per acre is no unusual amount to be expended in preparing a 
bog. 



( 17) 



FERTILIZATION. 

aNTIL within a few years the Cranberry bog has had to depend upon 
its own resources for fertilization, as it was popularly supposed that a 
bog contained all the necessary nutriment to feed the growing crop. 
Careful investigation by the most successful growers has led them to believe 
that, in common with every other farm crop, a larger crop of finer quality 
of fruit can be grown per acre, if a good commercial fertilizer is used upon the 
Cranberry. They therefore commence with the plant when set out, and scatter 
a small quantity of fertilizer around each plant in setting, as we have before 
suggested on page 17 ; and each year thereafter they sow broadcast over the 
bog from 200 to 400 pounds of Bradley's Superphosphate to the acre. The 
result is that a larger crop of richer-colored berries is secured, which will more 
successfully withstand handling and shipping. The vines are also so stimulated 
that the crop ripens much earlier, and very often a saving of hundreds of dollars 
will be made, through the grower being able to gather the berries early in 
the season, before the frost comes. 

On old bogs, which are partially run out, the influence of a liberal dressing 
of Bradley's Superphosphate is very marked, as it gives the vines a fresh sup- 
ply of needed food, and brings ample returns the first season in largely increased 
crops of berries. 

So marked is this effect, that if any one having a Cranberry bog will fertil- 

( 18) 



ize a small section of it for one season, at the rate of 200 to 400 pounds of 
Bradley's Phosphate to the acre, he will always use this fertilizer thereafter, as 
the results will readily prove that it will pay him liberally to do so. 

Another reason for fertilization is, that, through a liberal use of Bradley's 
Superphosphate, the young plants attain that sturdy growth which enables them 
to withstand more successfully the attacks of the fire, fruit, and span worm, 
which flourish best upon weak plants. 

The common theory that a fertilizer is simply a stimulant, whose influence 
is of no permanent benefit, has been proved to be erroneous by the experiments 
of some of the largest growers, who, after having used Bradley's Superphosphate, 
find that not only have they grown enormous crops of the best quality berries, 
but their bogs are annually in a better condition than their neighbors' bogs 
which have not been fertilized, and from which only small or average crops of 
berries have been secured. 

By common consent, therefore, the leading growers are large users of Brad- 
ley's Superphosphate, as they are convinced that its liberal use upon their bogs 
is repaid to them every season in increased crops of perfect fruit which com- 
mands the highest market price. 



South Yarmouth, Mass., Oct. 22, 1891. 

1 have used the Bradley Fertilizer on newly set cranberry vines, and find it causes them to 
grow and spread more rapidly over a new bog. 

JAMES F. SEARS. 

( 19) 



CRANBERRY ENEMIES. 

ONE of the greatest enemies to successful Cranberry growing is one that 
can be easily conquered, but which is oftenest neglected ; that is, the 
weeds and small bushes when they first appear. It is a compar- 
atively easy matter under the more favorable conditions, during the three 
years before the bog comes to full bearing, to go over it once or twice during 
each season with a hoe, and clean out every weed and bush, no matter how 
small and insignificant it make look. But the grower often thinks that this 
is unnecessary labor, especially as he has put considerable money into the bog, 
and as yet has had no returns from his investment. If this work is neglected 
now, when the bog comes to fruiting there will be found, especially among 
the plants, quite an amount of injurious weeds and small bushes which 
increase rapidly from year to year, and finally kill out the bog. But if 
during the first three years they are steadily and systematically cut down, they 
become so thoroughly eradicated that a little going over the bog every spring 
will keep it in good condition for ten or fifteen years, with little trouble from 
either weeds or bushes. 

The cultivation of the Cranberry, ever since it has been cultivated for a 
crop, has been a practical exemplification of the advice of that eminent agricult- 
urist, Horace Greeley, who, for the extermination of the Canadian thistle, recom- 

( 20) 



mended its "cultivation," as then there would come plenty of enemies to 
accomplish its destruction. 

The fire, span, tip, and fruit worms rank in the order named as the most 
destructive, — the first two in the list blasting in a few hours an almost assured 
and abundant crop. 

The larger growers, after experimenting with perhaps all of the known 
insecticides, have most generally adopted some form of tobacco preparation, 
applied in solution in the form of a spray, upon the first indication of the 
approach of the fire- worm. 

So extensive is the use of tobacco, that one grower, Mr. Franklin Crocker, 
of Hyannis, treasurer of the South Sea Cranberry Company, who has probably 
given as much attention as any other grower to this branch of the business, 
informs us that for himself and others he purchased, in its various forms, 
over five thousand dollars' worth of tobacco during the past two years, for this 
purpose. Mr. Crocker tells of his experience with tobacco in his letter on 
page 3 of cover. 

Many growers (not all) are able to resort to "Spring Flowage " as an 
effective and cheap remedy for fire-worms. That this is effective there can be 
no question, but in its application for destroying the worm it is injurious to 
the keeping quality of the fruit when gathered. 



( 21 ) 



THE HARVEST. 

THE picking of berries commences about the first of September. They 
should be picked as soon as the greater part have put on a good, fair 
color. The great mistake in the past has been in allowing the berries 
to become over size. The trade has demanded dark berries, which made the 
Early Blacks so popular ; but all that was gained in color was at the sacrifice of 
the keeping quality, to the injury of the grower and dealer. 

This is becoming so well recognized that "pick early" comes with the 
greater emphasis from all the larger dealers, who, by sad experiences, have 
become more interested in this particular feature than the grower, who, 
gathering his harvest of beautiful fruit, has also immediately gathered in the 
skekels, recognizing that "the best time to sell is right off the bog." 
Thus has he "Sown to the Wind;" and while disaster has been delayed, 
its coming is manifest in the experience of the past season, when in 
some cases the crop has not paid expenses. 

An old receipt, "How to cook a hare," began, "First catch the hare." 
We have endeavored to tell you how to get the crop ; and now, supposing 
you have this, we will give you an idea of how it is gathered, so far 
as may be of interest to the uninitiated : Lines are drawn across the bog, 
from eight to twenty feet apart, as a guide for keeping in place those pickers 

( 22 ) 



who incline otherwise to the right or left, as "spots" thick or thin allure 
or repel them in their eagerness "to fill the measure." Then, placing as many 
pickers within the lines as can have sufficient " elbow room," picking length- 
wise, they proceed to pick. 

An overseer is needed for every twenty-five pickers, to see that the 
work is properly done, each in his or her own place, and that all are picking 
clean from the vines, and from the "bottom ;" that is, picking from the ground 
all scattering berries. 

Measures holding six quarts are the most convenient size, and the usual 
price is ten cents per measure, each picker using generally two measures 
and so saving time, as the berries must be carried to the "Tally." The 
pickers are all known by numbers, and as they go to empty their measure 
they report " Number (5)," one or two measures, as the case may be, the 
Tally repeating each number and tally, as a precaution against mistakes. 

On some bogs checks are given thus: "Good for ten cents, South Sea 
Co., F. Crocker, Hyannis, Treas. ; " and such checks are current coin during 
"Cranberry time" for supplies at the stores. 

Again, others provide themselves with a large amount of dimes, and so 
"pay off" as each measure is delivered. Berries, after being picked, should 
be put in slatted boxes holding about one bushel each, as being the most 
convenient size to handle, and then put away for at least twenty-four hours 
to cool off, as prevention against the almost immediate process of decay if 
this is not done. 

(23) 



BARRELLING. 

AFTER being thoroughly cooled they are put in screens about ten feet 
long, three feet wide at the upper end, and six to eight inches at 
the lower end, from which, under the careful eye of an expert 
"screener," they are "run" into a barrel set ready to receive them. 

Four or five screeners about each screen remove all trash and unsound 
berries, and sometimes the light-colored ones, which are held to "color up," 
or packed separately and marked " Light." As the barrels are being filled, 
they should be thoroughly shaken, at least three times ; then, when the 
uninitiated packer thinks he has got the barrel full enough, it needs from 
four to six quarts more, when, with a screw, press the berries firmly 
down into the barrel. The barrels now properly headed and nailed, carry 
the berries in shape to command the highest price for which their grade may 
warrant. It pays to pack the fruit as solid as possible, since, whether sound 
or otherwise, a full barrel will sell when one lacking one inch or more of 
berries will command little attention. 



West Harwich, Mass., Oct. 19, 1891. 

Tn the spring of 1890 I bought an acre of cranberry bog that had been set about 30 years, 
and was so run down as to bear only about 10 barrels per year. 1 immediately applied 400 
pounds of Bradley's Fertilizer, and received the first year a crop of 22 barrels. 

Last spring I applied 600 pounds of same Fertilizer, and have just gathered 40 barrels of nice 
berries, making an increase of 30 barrels a year on one acre by the use of Bradley's Fertilizer, equal 
to 300 per cent. gain. 

Besides all this improvement in the crop, the Fertilizer has had the effect to renew the vines 
to such an extent as to give them the appearance of a new bog, while the moss, which was quite 
troublesome, has been wholly killed out. It is surprising to see how quick moss will begin to 
disappear where Bradley's Fertilizer has been applied. W. P. BAKER. 

( 24) 



THE 1 891 CROP IN THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 

THE following comparative statement of the 1891 crop of Cranberries on 
Dec. 1, 1891, in the New England States, was compiled by Charles H. 
Nye, Esq., Superintendent Cape Cod Division, Old Colony Railroad, 
and allowing that 9,000 bushels may have been grown in Rhode Island and 
Connecticut, would make the 1891 crop about or quite 480,000 bushels. 



1890. 



STATIONS SHIPPED FROM. 



Rock 

South Middleboro' 

Tremont . . . . 

Marion . . . . 

Mattapoisett . . 

South Wareham . 

Wareham . . . 

East Wareham . . 
Onset Junction 
Buzzard's Bay 

Monument Beach . 

Wenaumet . . . 

Cataumet . . . 

North Falmouth . 
West Falmouth 

Falmouth . . . . 

Woods Holl . . . 

Bourne . . . . 

Bournedale . . . 

Sagamore . . . 

Sandwich . . . 

West Barnstable . 



BARRELS. 


BOXES. 


BARRELS. 


BOXES. 


TO BE 
SHIPPED 


1,879 


993 


3,420 


296 




74 


14 


248 


14 




16,840 


2,640 


23,986 


2,486 


200 


440 


310 


441 


361 




175 


63 


215 


688 




416 


90 


516 


269 




14,919 


4,870 


18,125 


4,743 




2,223 


203 












3,412 


156 


300 


33 


127 


223 


130 




229 


147 


550 


18 




37 


3i 


103 


97 




690 


498 


323 


38i 




6 I 5 


711 


753 


i,459 




164 


11 


90 


15 




ii*97 


872 


4,085 


3.281 


400 


182 










859 


83 


1,606 


415 




1,512 


738 


1,160 


654 




3,108 


1,343 


4,589 


971 




2,626 


2,92 s 


6,003 


2,700 


1,000 


8,081 


1,804 


12,599 


2,174 





( 25 ) 



STATIONS SHIPPED FROM. 




Barnstable 
Yarmouth 
Hyannis 
South Yarmouth 
South Dennis 
North Harwich 
Harwich 
South Harwich 
South Chatham 
Chatham 
Pleasant Lake 
Brewster 
Orleans 
Eastham 
North Eastham 
South Wellfleet 
Wellfleet 
South Truro 
Truro . . 
North Truro 
Provincetown 



Total shipments, barrel 
Boxes reduced to barrels 



Total number barrels 
To be shipped 



Total, Cape Cod Division . . 



( 26) 



Central Division, Old Colony railroad. 



STATIONS SHIPPED FROM. 



Plymouth . . 
Plympton . . 
South Hanson 
Middleboro' . 
North Easton 
Taunton . . 
Mansfield . . 
Attleboro' . . 



Central Division . 
Martha's Vineyard. 



Total number barrels 
Or 471,048 bushels. 



1890. 



BOXES. 



BARRELS. 



11,232 

1,418 

660 



Total number barrels . 
Add Cape Cod Division 



240 
240 



11,194 
1,964 
665 
2,045 
300 
232 
182 
528 



BOXES. 



980 

589 

16 

1,038 



TOTAL 
BARRELS. 



11,521 
2,160 
670 
2,391 
300 
232 
182 
528 



17,984 
1,308 



19,292 

137,724 



157,016 



(27) 



A 



THE 1891 CROP OF THE UNITED STATES. 

R. A. J. RIDER, Secretary of the American Cranberry Growers' 
Association, estimates the entire crop of Cranberries grown in 1891 
as follows : 



New England 480,000 bush, 

New Jersey 250,000 " 

The West 30,000 " 



Total 760,000 " 

Showing that the crop for the entire country was short 100,000 bushels, 
when compared with the 1890 crop. 



( 28) 



THE FERTILIZER FOR CRANBERRIES. 

BRADLEY'S SUPERPHOSPHATE, "the old reliable," has been success- 
fully used in the cultivation of Cranberries for many years past. 
It is, as every one knows, the best general fertilizer on the market. 
By practical experience, and not by fallacious (though plausible) theories, 
it has demonstrated its entire fitness for growing the best Cranberries and pro- 
ducing the largest crops. It has been repeatedly noticed that Cranberries grown 
on this fertilizer are more highly colored, harder, and better "keepers" than 
those raised under ordinary conditions of cultivation. 

As Bradley's Phosphate contains the very choicest quality of plant foods 
in such forms and proportions as long practical experience has demonstrated will 
most fully satisfy the demands of the crop for a complete and nutritious fertilizer, 
it wholly meets the requirements of the Cranberry, as has been abundantly 
proven by exhaustive tests on the largest bogs. 

A "Special Fertilizer" for Cranberries, claimed to be "based on their 
analysis," may be taking with some; but this is only an idea,— a theory 
without practice to support it, an advertising dodge to catch the uninitiated. 
The theory of feeding plants on this basis was exploded long ago both at 
home and abroad; and while formerly one manufacturer of "Special Fertilizers" 

t 29 ) 



advertised twenty-four special crop formulas, he now sells but ten, and the 
analyses of these are totally different from the original formulas which were 
represented as accurate demonstrations of the " discovery," so called. 

Professor Johnson, Director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion, and one of the best authorities on agricultural chemistry of this country, 
has said: "In honest truth, there is no possibility of compounding special fertilisers 
"adapted to each of our various crops, nor even to our various classes of crops. 
"Special manures for particular crops are, in fact, least heard of where agriculture 
"is guided by the clearest light of science and the widest range of experience." 

Professor Atwater, recently Director of the Experiment Stations of the 
United States at Washington, has stated : " There is no best fertiliser for any 
"crop, and the formulas to fit all cases are out of the question." So do not 
be caught by this theory snare, and pay four or five dollars a ton extra on 
your fertilizer for that " idea." 

Bradley's Superphosphate has stood the test of nearly thirty years, and 
its sales are far greater than that of any other fertilizer on the market. It is 
the acknowledged Standard, so recognized by its strongest competitors, whose 
favorite argument is that their fertilizer is "equal to Bradley's." "There 
are tricks in all trades," but no trick can undermine the stability of an 
article so universally recognized as the standard of excellence in its class as 
Bradley's Phosphate. 



( 3o) 



The following letter may serve to answer inquiries about " Insecticide. " 

HYANNIS, MASS., Feb. 22, 1892. 

In regard to tobacco as an insecticide, I submit the following: Tobacco solution is 
prepared by steeping tobacco stems in warm water, using from one and a half to two pounds 
of stems to a gallon of water, according to strength of stems in the nicotine principle. So 
far, the larger growers prefer the stems from the Missouri-river region, and for this purpose 1 
ordered six car-loads last Saturday from that section for the use of growers the coming season. 

Of the solution, when prepared, it takes about one gallon to a square rod, applied in the 
form of a spray as fine as possible. For this purpose the " Nixon Pump " is the most ef- 
fective among the many that I have ever tested. The application should be made upon the first 
appearance of the worms ; any delay resulting often in entire loss of crop, since nothing but 
flowage will kill the larger worms. Another and more convenient solution is obtained from Hill's 
Extract of Tobacco — two or three quarts to a barrel of water. This requires no heating, and 
may be prepared at a moment's notice. My sales last year of this Extract amounted to over 
eight hundred gallons. 

Respectfully yours, 

FRANKLIN CROCKER. 




CONGRESS 




020 950 219 



7 



BwBmck 

^ _ 1 , , i m 




